Abstract: Surgical assemblies and related methods are disclosed that provide for the transmission of high levels of actuation torque to a rotary mechanism of an end effector supported by an independently rotatable main shaft without causing undesirable rotation of the main shaft. An input drive shaft is coupled with both the rotary mechanism and the main shaft via a transmission and a rotational coupling so that the main shaft is passively subjected to a counteracting torque opposite in direction to the actuation torque transmitted to the rotary mechanism so as to inhibit rotational driving of the main shaft by the transmitted actuation torque.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 15, 2011
Date of Patent:
August 4, 2015
Assignee:
INTUTITIVE SURGICAL OPERATIONS, INC.
Inventors:
Gregory W. Dachs, II, John W. Zabinski, Gabriel F. Brisson, Todd Murphy